A digital entertainment system (e.g., a set-top box, a television, etc.) can provide a user with media content, such as live television programs, on-demand programs, etc. using channels that provide different media content. Upon receiving a user request to switch from a current channel to a new channel, a conventional digital entertainment system may not render media content corresponding to the new channel in a timely manner. For example, it may take a second or more for a conventional digital entertainment system to prepare the media content for display by tuning to the new channel, obtaining video signals and/or audio signals being broadcast on the new channel, decoding and/or decompressing the video signals and/or the audio signals, synchronizing the video signals and the audio signals, preparing a video buffer of a display device, etc. As a result, a user may have to wait one or more seconds after pressing a channel change button for the desired content to appear.
Therefore, new mechanisms for presenting media content in response to a channel change request are desirable.